Xamarin.Forms - Microcharts App

Logesh Palani
Oct 04
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Article

Introduction

Displaying charts in mobile apps has always been a great way to offer users a clear overview of numerical data. I want this task to be as easy as writing a few lines of code, but I couldn't find a straightforward way to achieve this. This is why I started exploring SkiaSharp and created Microcharts.

NuGet package: Xamarin.Forms = search "Microcharts.Forms"

This simple plugin can display microcharts in Xamarin.Forms.

Microcharts in Xamarin.Forms

Available charts Microcharts.Forms Plugin

Barchart
PointChart
LineChart
DonutChart
RadialGaugeChart
RadarChart

Chart Types

BarChart

Chartview.Chart = new BarChart()
{
    Entries = entries
};

BarChart

PointChart

Chartview.Chart = new PointChart
{
    Entries = entries
};

PointChart

LineChart

Chartview.Chart = new LineChart
{
    Entries = entries
};

LineChart

DonutChart

Chartview.Chart = new DonutChart()
{
    Entries = entries
};

DonutChart

RadialGaugeChart

Chartview.Chart = new RadialGaugeChart()
{
    Entries = entries
};

RadialGaugeChart

RadarChart

Chartview.Chart = new RadarChart
{
    Entries = entries
};

RadarChart

Step 1. You can create Xamarin.Forms app by going to File >> New >> Visual C# >> Cross Platform >> Cross Platform App (Xamarin.Native or Xamarin.Forms), give the application name, and press OK.

(Project name: MicrochartsApp)

Step 2. Now, add the following NuGet Package for your projects.

Microcharts.Forms

For that, go to Solution Explorer and select your solution. Right-click and select "Manage NuGet Packages for the Solution". Now, select the following NuGet Package, select your project, and install it.

Microcharts.Forms

Microcharts.Forms

Step 3. To display a chart, we'll need to host it in a ChartView.

After installing NuGet packages, add a ChartView control to your project. For that, go to Solution Explorer >> MicrochartsApp(PCL) >>> Double-click on MainPage.xaml. After opening this, you can add assembly and XAML code to your project. Here is the code for this page.

Assembly

xmlns:forms="clr-namespace:Microcharts.Forms;assembly=Microcharts.Forms"

XAML code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MicrochartsApp"
             x:Class="MicrochartsApp.MainPage"
             xmlns:forms="clr-namespace:Microcharts.Forms;assembly=Microcharts.Forms">
    <ScrollView>
        <StackLayout Orientation="Vertical">
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart1" HeightRequest="150"/>
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart2" HeightRequest="150"/>
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart3" HeightRequest="150"/>
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart4" HeightRequest="150"/>
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart5" HeightRequest="150"/>
            <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart6" HeightRequest="160"/>
        </StackLayout>
    </ScrollView>
</ContentPage>

XML Code

Step 4. In this step, add data entries. For that, open Solution Explorer >> MicrochartsApp(PCL) >>click open MainPage.xaml.cs. This class code is given below.

Every chart is displayed via Microcharts and consumes a set of data entries. They will always have the same structure regardless of the chart type that you want to display.

Each entry

A floating number representing its value is required.
Label: what your entry is associated with.
ValueLabel: format your value
Color: entry

using Microcharts;
using SkiaSharp;
using Microcharts.Forms;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Xamarin.Forms;
using Entry = Microcharts.Entry;

namespace MicrochartsApp
{
    public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
    {
        List<Entry> entries = new List<Entry>
        {
            new Entry(200)
            {
                Color = SKColor.Parse("#FF1943"),
                Label = "January",
                ValueLabel = "200"
            },
            new Entry(400)
            {
                Color = SKColor.Parse("00BFFF"),
                Label = "March",
                ValueLabel = "400"
            },
            new Entry(-100)
            {
                Color = SKColor.Parse("#00CED1"),
                Label = "October",
                ValueLabel = "-100"
            },
        };

        public MainPage()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            Chart1.Chart = new RadialGaugeChart() { Entries = entries };
            Chart2.Chart = new LineChart() { Entries = entries };
            Chart3.Chart = new DonutChart() { Entries = entries };
            Chart4.Chart = new BarChart() { Entries = entries };
            Chart5.Chart = new PointChart() { Entries = entries };
            //Chart6.Chart = new RadarChart() { Entries = entries };
        }
    }
}

Entries